New technology management challenges: hacking and other forms of cyber aggression

Abstract

Technological advances that provide hundreds of millions of persons with valuable new tools for performing their jobs also arm them with new means of aggressing against others. We describe aggression through these new electronic means as cyber aggression, because one meaning of the term "cyber" is "computer-generated;" and this, in turn, seems an apt description for the kinds of aggression considered. We define cyber aggression as any form of intentional harm-doing performed through electronic means-any actions by one or more individuals designed to harm one or more others (or an entire organization) that make use of computers or related peripheral equipment. Having defined cyber, we focus, in the remainder of this article on several important tasks. First, we attempt to describe the major ways in which individuals can seek to harm others through electronic means-in short, how the intention of harming others is carried out electronically. Second, we examine various motives underlying cyber aggression, and some of the personal characteristics that may be associated with these motives. Third, we offer hypotheses concerning potential links between these motives and traits and the specific means used to enact cyber aggression. Finally, we suggest methods that may prove useful in investigating these proposed links between motives and traits on the one hand, and various forms of cyber aggression on the other. The underlying thrust of this research is to determine whether specific forms of workplace aggression, or various motives that may underlie such behavior, are associated with specific tools of cyber aggression. We believe that identifying such links will lead us to insights regarding the need for new management practices to address the ever-increasing digitization of the workplace.